Having been rebuffed by Real Madrid star Iker Casillas, cash-heavy Manchester City has turned its attention toward the next best goalkeeper in the world and while Gianluigi Buffon might be more likely to be available, he certainly won't be coming cheap.

According to this report out of England, Buffon is seeking a salary of £13 million a year (about $19.5 million), a figure that would dwarf the league-high salary currently being earned by Manchester City star Robinho (less than £8.5 million, about $12.75 million).

Buffon has denied any interest or contact with Manchester City.

Here are some other stories to get your day started.

Toluca rolls in first leg of Apertura final

Toluca moved one big step toward becoming Mexico's Apertura champions after beating Cruz Azul, 2-0, on the road in the first leg of the home-and-home Apertura final.

Paulo da Silva and Sergio Ponce provided the goals for Toluca, which will host the return leg on Sunday.

Ronaldo leads FIFA Award finalists

Cristiano Ronaldo stands poised to complete his sweep of major international player of the year awards after being named a finalist for the FIFA World Player of the Year. Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Fernando Torres and Xavi made up the list of finalists for the honor, which will be announce on January 12th.

Could this mean one more go-round with 'El Tri' for Blanco? With World Cup qualifying just two months away, and heavy pressure on Sven Goran Erikkson to produce, it seems unlikely that Blanco will be receiving a call from Sven even if he did come out of retirement to chase down those three caps he needs for 100.

What do you think of the above stories? You buying the absurd numbers being tossed around for Buffon? Surprised to see Toluca manhandle Cruz Azul? Would you vote for Ronaldo for World player of the year? Think Blanco has any chance to get three more caps for Mexico?

The Buffon rumors are old hat…Juve have already publically rebuffed Man City, saying Buffon is going nowhere…and considering that they are competing for both Serie A and Champs League, that kinda makes sense…

I think if City does start throwing that sort off money around, and they end up with 5-6 players making more than the entire MIddlesborough franchise is worth, you’ll start to see a lot more pressure for a salary cap.

I don’t think they’ll implement one any time soon, but I wouldn’t be surpprised to see a lot more agitation for it.

I wish Jose Mourinho and Peter Kenyon would get more credit. When Chelsea was injected with Roman Abromavich’s bankroll, Chelsea became a great team by making very smart and strategic moves, not just expansive moves, a la City.

Sure, Chelsea spent a lot of money, but they spent it on the right players, not simply on stars. Claude Makelele is a hugely influential player who has always gone under-appreciated, and he played a huge role in the success of Chelsea. Mourinho also went out and got fairly unknown guys like Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and Ricardo Carvalho who were the backbone of that team.

City, on the other hand, is just going out and trying to buy all of the most expensive, big name players they can find. Robinho is one thing, but having your next targets be guys like Buffon, Kaka and Ronaldo is ridiculous.

There was a true method to Chelsea’s madness that is completely void from anything being done at City right now. That’s also why Chelsea was good from the start.

Man City is going to get turned down most of the time until they make the Champions League. They are putting feelers out there for every great player and hoping a few bite. Robinho did, but I don’t think there are that many others who are willing to go to a club that clearly won’t be in the Champions League next year. They might not even make the UEFA Cup if they don’t get their act together! Chelsea was different because they were already in the competition when Abramovich took over.(if I recall correctly)

You’re off base chros. Drogba, Essien, and Carvalho were all VERY well known when Mourinho got them. He also paid extravagant amounts for those players. Mourinho’s overall transfer record wasn’t that great. Peter Kenyon is only there to make a mess of transfers.

The real credit should go to Ranieri for most of the great buys. He got Makalele, Cech, and Robben for very, very cheap. Ranieri built the team that Mourinho succeeded with.